Jaymee Dever is a north central Idaho native who showed an interest in talent in art at a very early age. She began painting as a toddler, and continued to expand creatively throughout elementary school, when she was selected to participate in a program for the artistically gifted. This program afforded her the opportunity to attend college level art classes while still in elementary school. She painted throughout her schooling and into college. Jaymee continued to paint after her graduation while living in Seattle and Portland, but took a 12-year hiatus beginning in 1996, mainly due to the demands of parenting her four daughters.
Jaymee describes her paintings of women as, “seductive, and yet innocent with raw emotion.” Jaymee currently focuses on painting women as here sole subjects, not only for their obvious beauty, but also because they are the source of life, strength, and emotion. Since Jaymee started painting again, she paints nearly everyday, honing her skills and perfecting her own individual style. Jaymee paints almost exclusively in acrylics on canvas or board. In addition, she often incorporates gold or silver leaf. Jaymee classifies her art into three categories: realism, surrealism, and illustration.
Jaymee’s influences are many. She currently gathers inspiration from folk-art, iconography, and pin-up art. Women who embrace their lives, flaws, and strengths unapologetically inspire Jaymee. Frida Kahlo is a source of inspiration because of her personal life, her tenacity and astonishing talent. Kahlo overcame her disabilities with determination and wit. She was willing to expose herself, however vulnerable it made her seem, for the sake of her art. Other prominent influences in life and art include Tamara de Lempicka, Dorothy Parker, and Anais Nin.
People who look at Jaymee’s paintings feel what the women inside the canvas are feeling at the moment Jaymee captured them. We join them there, on the canvas, and become one of Jaymee’s courageous women: vulnerable, strong, and life giving.
Currently Jaymee shows and sells her work locally, as well as via the Internet. She is focusing on 2 series in 2007, one titled 100 girls of 2007, and one titled 100 ideas that are not my own. In addition to these personal projects, Jaymee also receives commissions to create paintings for both public and private use.
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